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Current school has systemic challenges

Classrooms' size, electrical and plumbing among problems with historic building

By Rachel Alexander

Times Editor

Posted:
09/29/2013 07:08:18 PM MDT

Fort Morgan Middle School is a beautiful old building.

But, it's an old building.

The majority of classrooms are about 617 square feet, well below the state-recommended size for a classroom for 25 students, and they usually have only one or two electrical outlets, Principal Jason Frasco said.

"Really limits what we can do in many environments," he said.

In addition to the electrical issues, the school has plumbing problems inside the walls, which cannot be seen.

Two weeks ago, Superintendent Ron Echols said, there was a water leak on the third floor that flooded a classroom and caused damage down to the first floor.

"It's just the age of the building; those things will happen," he said. "They're going to continue to happen."

The district has put forward a bond question on this year's ballot to raise the required matching funds for a state Building Excellent Schools Today grant that will fund constructing a new middle school for the district.

The new school, which would be built on property the district already owns south of Legion Field, would cost a total of $34,665,227. The district was selected to receive $23,572,389 from B.E.S.T. and is required to match with $11,092,888.

The current Fort Morgan Middle School was built in 1925, which makes it the oldest facility in the district by 30 years.

The district has issued a brochure detailing the grant and bond and describing the current facility's deficiencies.

Among those deficiencies are:

It is impossible to reconfigure classroom space within the current footprint, and the building is landlocked.

There is no fire suppression system, the corridors are not fire rated, and panic hardware is inconsistent.

The electrical service is undersized and overstressed.

While classroom size is sufficient for classes of 17, the school's average class size is 25.

Plumbing fixtures are outdated, do not meet the current code, and water distribution is past its life expectancy.

The two main entrances that are open throughout the day are not visible from from the main office. This, along with the lack of security systems and an outdated layout, creates an unsecure building.

"Reality, when we had engineers, contractors in here," Echols said, "the things that have to be done to this building — we're talking about opening classrooms, moving bearing walls — it's just not cost effective anymore because of the age of the building. And the other major concerns we have here with electrical and venting and plumbing and all of those things."

He said it probably would cost $4 to $5 million to do the renovations needed to make the building a good educational environment and to bring it up to educational code, which is more stringent than code for commercial buildings.

"The building is here and the physical structure is here, but really it's not a good educational environment," he said. "It's just foolish to put that kind of money into a building of this age, especially when we have the opportunity to get a B.E.S.T. grant."

The bond that the district is seeking would also cover improvements for other district facilities. These would include:

Plumbing fixtures that are outdated and inadequate.

Outdated electrical systems.

Creating secure entrances to some of the schools.

A cooling system for Fort Morgan High School.

All of this brings the bond total to $18.3 million. The tax impact on a residential property valued at $130,000 would be $6 a month, according to the district.

The district is working with various agencies to attempt to find a use for the current building that would benefit the community into the future. He said changes other agencies would have to make to the facility would not be as costly, because they would not have to meet the same code requirements the district would have to meet.

"That doesn't mean the building doesn't still have use and value," Echols said. "I think that's the hard part for people to understand."

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